The Gauntlet
by Regency
Summary: In the midst of a violent mob turf war, Alexis and Cruz will try to take Kristina and Molly away from the danger for good. But will they survive the night? And will Cruz and Alexis' friendship cross the line?
1. The Cover Story

Author: Regency 

Title: The Gauntlet

Rating: TEEN for violence

Summary: Lorenzo Alcazar has lost it; all out war has erupted between him, Sonny Corinthos, and a new family attempting to take control. Skye has disappeared with Lila Rae to keep her safe. Tonight, with Cruz's help, Alexis will try to take Kristina and Molly away from the violence for good.

Author's Notes: James Craig unfortunately does not exist here. He'd be way too much competition for Cruz.

ANII: Sorry if the chapter breaks are a little abrupt. This story is actually written as one continuous passage but I know the eyes need a break and the mind needs a stopping point, so try to keep that in mind.

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters depicted below save the evil Medicis. I don't own the lyrics to _Every Breath You Take_ by Sting and the Police or _Love Is A Battlefield_ by Pat Benatar.

* * *

The sky was on the verge of dusk when she heard Cruz's distinctive knock on the front door of the eerily quiet lake house. She was silent as she let him inside, greeting him with a smile and informing him with her eyes that they could be heard. 

He lifted an eyebrow.

She nodded, returning to Molly's half-packed diaper bag and adjusted things nervously once more. She knew they had to go, they had to run. Staying was no longer an option she was willing to entertain. Kristina had been threatened again. With a throbbing heart, she still recalled sitting beside Sonny watching a tape of their precious daughter playing at school, unknowing of the danger that dangled above her head. She had decided, then, that they had to escape. Time didn't change her verdict.

"So," Cruz stuck his hands in his pockets, "how was your day?"

Narrowing her eyes at him, she refolded Molly's newest onesie and tucked it away again. She was stalling, she was scared--she was petrified. Of course she was, but she wouldn't show it. Cassadines, however grudging of their blood, never showed fear.

"Great actually," she tried at normal conversation. "I've been thinking about this trip all week. It's the only thing Kristina can talk about."

"Not surprising," he stilled her nervously folding hands with his own. "It's not often a little girl gets to go to Niagara Falls."

She was calmed by how good he was at this lie. They had devised it on the move between the courtroom and the squad room, never stilling long enough to be overhead. Over the last six months, she'd come to realize that she could only trust him to help her escape. He had no stake in her life; though he was fond of her girls, he held no vendetta against either Ric or Sonny that prevented him from putting her daughters' needs first. He was the ideal partner in deceit. And he was easily convinced.

"I went with my family when I was sixteen." He turned up her hands and massaged her palms, physically willing her to relax. "I thought I was a rebel, a real smart ass." She let him lead her to the sofa, and was inwardly relieved when he refused to let go. "I thought I knew everything about the world, no force of God could conquer me." She folded herself into the cushions, smirking as he did the same across from her. "Then, I stared down at those falls and I knew without a doubt that if I jumped I'd die."

Her skin was besieged with goose bumps as he traced the deep creases of her palm with his fingertips. "That must have been a terrifying realization for someone so young."

"At first," he admitted. "Later on, it gave me strength, then, courage as I grew up. Having such a strong grip on my mortality allowed me to face a life where I might risk myself for another person. I could die tomorrow and be …all right knowing I saved someone else."

"That's very admirable." She rubbed his arm gently. He had been an immense comfort, assuring her whenever she should falter that this was the right thing to do, that she was out of options. "And incredibly foolish," she laughed dryly. A layer of dust had settled on her laughing muscles and she shuddered for the effort.

"Maybe it is, but it's a responsibility I've accepted." He looked deliberately into her eyes, case in point.

She had stayed awake last night thinking of this moment. No, not this very one, but of this evening and how she hoped it would end; how she feared it might end. She thought he was a good man and she'd hate to see one more good man sacrificed on the altar of mob violence and one-upmanship.

"Good then," she put on her best face. "Because Niagara Falls is a hell of a trip and you have three women to contend with. I think a battalion commander would say 'God speed.'"

"I can handle you beautiful ladies. Speaking of which," he checked his watch quickly," we need to be hitting the road if we're going to make it by sunrise. What do you think?"

She felt stronger for his nonchalance. "Sure. If you can get Molly, I'll pull Kristina away from her dolls."

"Yes, ma'am," he rose with a salute and departed the front room, leaving her alone. She tucked back her close-cropped hair and left to collect her daughter. This was the role of a lifetime.

Cruz held a somber Molly in his arms as he secured the windows to the house. Alexis looked on as she carefully braided her elder daughter's hair. Kristina cuddled her favorite doll, Abigail, and was very quiet.

She pulled the door shut behind her and it sealed with a subtle click. The humid air was cut by the jingle of her keys. She dropped them into deep pockets of her coat to save her nerves. A dozen eyes were on them like gun sights and she unconsciously made to shield Kristina with her body, though she knew it was fruitless.

"We are going to have a wonderful time." She and Cruz buckled the girls into the car and he slid behind the steering wheel, hands steady as he slipped key into the ignition. They both held their breath as he fired up the ignition. This could be the moment they died.

The engine roared to life and the seats rumbled beneath them, safely. Alexis exhaled, chilled to her heart. She spied Kristina in the rearview mirror, her round face as white as a midnight ghost. She smiled tremulously at her reflection, but her daughter only looked away, seemingly content to tinker with Abigail. Molly cooed, undisturbed by their discomfort.

Cruz looked subtly around them and loosed the buckle on his gun holster. She clung to the armrest between their seats and feigned calm again. Kristina felt her anxiety, Cruz felt it. She wasn't playing her Cassadine part well.

"Hey, Krissy, are you looking forward to going to Niagara Falls?" There he went again, ever the optimist.

The seven year-old remained mute and made a point of ducking out of sight.

Her mother was torn. This was the right thing, she knew, but the toll it was taking on all of them was breaking her.

"You'll love it, sweetheart, it's so beautiful. It's sort of loud though and when you walk over the falls, the mist sprays you in the face. Like the sprinkler system we run through at the hospital. Won't that be fun?" She wasn't expecting much from her daughter; silence was still her default setting.

Kristina peeked out of the shadows of the back seat to nod. She was wearing the big girl face she'd christened upon Molly's birth.

"I think Molly will like it a lot," she stated wisely.

"Me, too, baby. She'll love it." Alexis was bolstered by getting any response at all.

"Thank you for taking us, Cwuz," Krissy thanked him shyly.

"It's my pleasure, Princess Kristina."

Alexis looked away into the growing gloom, hopeful that this was a sign of the good fortune to come. She swore she didn't see the glinting of things terrible and deadly in the dense brush that lined street they rode on. It was straight out of town from here--at least it could be. If they stopped for nothing and went the speed limit, they could escape undeterred. Perhaps she was being absurdly naïve.


	2. Princesses, Princes & Pawns

A few minutes into their drive, Cruz reached for the radio and began to play the dials without taking his eyes off the road. This is why he'd insisted they take his car. He knew things about it no one else could know. If something was wrong or off with it, he'd be the first to come to that conclusion--there'd be no delay in getting Alexis and her girls to safety. So he'd said. She thought it was just because he didn't like the stations she had preset in her car. As the strains of some eighties soft rock ballad filled the sedan, Alexis knew how right she'd been.

She rolled her eyes, exasperated by the preferences of the young.

Cruz saw her out of the corner of his eye and turned to her, curiously. "Problem DA Davis?"

She tucked her coat around herself. "Not if we've just traveled twenty years back in time." She caught the flash of his smile in the burnt orange shadows that filled the cabin.

"I take it you're not a fan of the power ballad?" She felt his mockery and scoffed, somewhat haughtily. She wasn't a snob, really.

"No, those weren't exactly my speed back then." She eyes the headlights in the rearview mirror anxiously and stiffened as the dark vehicle began to pull up alongside them. There was a traffic light ahead, going on yellow, next red. She stopped breathing as they came to a rolling stop at the same time. She noticed Cruz's hand move surreptitiously towards his sidearm. Her knuckles were bone-white against her ribs. She heard Kristina whimper and Molly begin to snore, secure in her seat.

If she were standing she'd collapse, but in her current position there was no where to go but in. She closed her eyes as tightly as she could and determined that all their work couldn't have been in vain. She didn't believe God was that cruel. When she thought she might die of cardiac arrest from the sheer amount of distress she was in, she felt a small hand rest on her forearm.

"Mommy?" Kristina called her, clearly scared of how white her mother had become.

Alexis forced her lungs to fill with oxygen and uncurled her fists. She vigorously began to stretch, both to amuse Krissy and to rid her body of the terrible tension that had her muscles in knots. They were alone on the streets again. The wealthy housing and luxury cars were becoming fewer as they were entering the city's inner sanctum. They must've been crazy to take this path through the heart of Port Charles. This would test their dedication to this plan, as well as their devotion to Molly and Kristina.

There were unofficial checkpoints they would pass through between the sometimes overlapping territories of the Corinthos Family, the Alcazar Familia, and the Medicis, who were every bit as domineering as they seemed. The Medicis had swept into town just as Sonny and Lorenzo had truly begun to butt heads over certain illegal trading rights and other more personal vendettas.

_Lorenzo could not forgive Sam's part in the death of his son. He considered her a murderer and made it his duty to punish her as he saw fit. The proper punishment, he decided, was death and he sent a pack of his most skilled minions to carry it out. However, that only ended in a blood bath when Jason and Max intercepted his death squad and turned the tables on them. Jason wanted to whisk Sam away to a safe house in the Caymans, but she refused to leave. She belonged at his side, she said, and she stayed. She never left the penthouse again. It wasn't safe._

_Before long, Lorenzo no longer had time to plot the demise of Diego's executioner. He became aware of how genuine a threat the Medicis were when Vicente Medici himself called to let him know that his services were no longer required in Port Charles. At midnight, Alcazar's arms shipment out of Montreal was intercepted, commandeered and resold before dawn. Every member of Alcazar's crew was cut down by snipers' bullets. They never had a chance._

_Ric's hands were full and tied. He could be of no help to his former mob ally. Medici's men had paid him a visit. If he so much as breathed towards a search warrant against their organization, it was predicted that Molly would become the unfortunate victim of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. He refused to test their word and stopped taking Lorenzo's calls._

_While Alcazar ceased to be a problem, Sonny was content not to get involved in any territorial disputes between the two rival families. That is, until Medici was so bold as to send a message of the same content to Grey Skull. It was apparent to him that he'd been too slow in seeing this man as a possible usurper. He and Jason immediately made plans to take out the head of the business. Their motto, take out the head and the feet have no brain. A funny thing happened though. Their plans backfired._

_The man they had taken out with such calculating cruelty wasn't the head of the company, just the figurehead. The real deal was much too smart to place himself at the scene of the crime. That's why he'd been so successful. So, now they had the assassination of an allegedly innocent man to contend with. _

_With the rising crime in the city, the District Attorney wasn't in a position to sweep something like this under the rug. The people were watching; it was Election Season. Ric stalled for as long as he could manage but eventually warrants were issued for the arrest of both Sonny and Jason. Although they were out on bail in no time, their incarceration signified a change in guard for Port Charles. They weren't untouchable anymore. What they were was pissed. They weren't alone._

_Lorenzo had refused to give even a block of his territory over to the Medici clan. He had been in this town for years and had no intention of pulling up his roots and relocating. Vicente, the man he thought had been killed, was not pleased. He called again, voice still pleasant as can be, and let Alcazar know in no uncertain terms that he knew exactly what Skye and Lila did with their days, where they took their walks, their favorite places to shop and have lunch, and that he had little compunction about interrupting their peaceful existence with a well-timed hail of bullets. He succeeded in enraging the already loosely hinged Venezuelan to the point of madness. Moreover, he also instilled him with a modicum of fear. Though small it was potent enough to send Lorenzo packing his loved ones off to some unattainable location in the boondocks. Better they be barefoot in the backwoods than gone from life. Then, he was free to wreak havoc without fear for them and he did._

_Jason and Sonny struck a blow to the Medici operation when the condo functioning as a headquarters was burned to a cinder. For a few short days their work appeared to be done. All was quiet on the grapevine and there wasn't a flicker of Medici life. Then, there was the video. Michael and Morgan playing flag football at the park. Kristina at school with her friends. Tiny Molly asleep in her crib. Suddenly it wasn't about guns or coffee beans. Though the video wasn't narrated and there was no message attached, the unspoken declaration was clear. Their children were in play and it was serious._

_Sonny didn't show Alexis the tape until a month later after an unidentified woman attempted to take Kristina out of school without her permission. Once Alexis realized it wasn't Sam who'd done it, she contacted Sonny and asked him exactly what he'd gotten himself into. She'd been able to note the anxiety in his voice as he ordered her to come to Grey Skull immediately and not to make any unnecessary stops along the way._

_She was horrified as she saw footage of her little girl swinging happily on the monkey bars next to her newest best friend. Her head swam and she lost what little food chemo had allowed her to keep down. Sonny had stammered out an apology and put her in one of his guest beds in spite of her protests. He vowed to keep them safe for that long. He accomplished that much; they survived the night._

_The next day, she discovered that her car had been wired to explode as soon as she inserted her key. Even in this day and age, nothing sent a louder message than the car bomb. Sonny refused to allow her to drive herself after that. She thought it must have been guilt; her car had been parked on his property all night._

_Subsequently, the threats only became more insistent and eventually they skipped Sonny and Jason altogether, arriving directly on Alexis' lake house doorstep. A beautifully wrapped gift; bright pink with light green ribbons and a large bow. It caught Kristina's attention as soon as they stepped out of the black Mercedes that shuttled them about these days. Upon setting eyes on it, Alexis felt a rush of dread so strong that she sprinted after her daughter and yanked the rectangular package from her fingers in the same motion that she pulled Kristina to floorboards. It blew as it made contact with the water._


	3. Betrayed?

The Medici district was made up with a mixture of Sonny's cafés and Alcazar's everything else. He was indiscriminate with what he took. He was a man of quantity, but he was fully aware of the quality of his spoils. If he took all he could as often as he could, he would steadily begin to eat into the more valuable areas of his rivals' territory. Vicente was patient; he was prepared to wait.

These were all things Alexis and Cruz had contemplated in their discussions on vacating the city with her daughters. Medici embraced cruelty in a way they hadn't seen in years, which only heightened her fear of what he'd have his people do if he figured out what they were up to. They were half of his leverage against Sonny, all of his leverage against Ric, as well as Lorenzo's. If they vanished, he'd have no reason not to declare all-out war, and Sonny would have no reason not to fight back. Their departure was the only way she could ensure they wouldn't be caught in the crossfire.

"So, Cruz, tell me more about your family. You and I have known each for almost two years, but I know close to nothing about your personal life." She rested on the headrest, trying to mentally soothe herself out of a migraine. She watched him as he drove, noticing how he kept his eyes trained on the road ahead and their surroundings. She almost felt safe.

He turned the wheel smoothly, sparing her a subtle look as they sped through a yellow light. "Well, I have two sisters and a baby brother. I've had two parents for the majority of my life. But my father passed away shortly before I graduated from the police academy. My mother remarried recently after we had to nearly bribe her into dating again."

"Sounds like she loved your father very much."

"She did. I don't think there's ever been a couple so in love after being together that long." A grimace flashed across his face.

Alexis wasn't sure if his discomfort was for her benefit or a personal pain.

"I'm sorry your father didn't see you graduate from the academy."

He nodded, sealing his lips sternly in the face of nightfall. "I like to think that he was there in some way. Just because I couldn't see doesn't mean I didn't feel him."

She was moved by his optimism. "I envy your childhood," she admitted, glumly. She hadn't had a lot of love growing up, unlike him, and most of her time had been dedicated to protecting her sister from Helena's wrath. If she could've had half the love she saw reflected in him, she felt that she'd be twice as confident and half as neurotic as she was now.

"I envy your strength, Alexis. Some of the choices you've made I don't think I could make. And you've survived. A fortunate childhood doesn't necessarily breed a successful person."

"And yet a horror story doesn't always make a hero." She was never one to leave her point unmade.

"Fine, you're not a hero." He was clearly mocking her.

She looked at him suspiciously. "It's not like you to surrender the high ground so quickly."

"Maybe I'm turning over a new, more cooperative leaf."

"Uh huh. I don't think so." Despite not being intimately acquainted with his personal history, she'd come to know his personality pretty well. He was stubborn and pig-headed. He was loyal and gracious. He was compassionate and protective. He was smart and vivacious. He was the closest thing she'd had to a best friend since Jax married Carly.

"Come on, give me the benefit of the doubt."

"I would, if you weren't so completely full of it."

He turned his head to gape at her before setting his eyes back on the road. "Language, language. There are minors in the car."

"Oh please. Sesame Street uses more questionable language that what I just said. You are a complete prude."

He chuckled, shaking his head. "Not even close. I like a good racy conversation as much, if not more, than anyone. Stick with me long enough and you'll find that I'm more horn dog than Sacred Heart."

Alexis fingered her hair absently. "Keep offering, Cruz, and I might take you up on that someday."

"I don't make disingenuous offers. Name the time and the place."

Smiling, she leaned against the glass to watch the streetlights go on and the evening masses head towards the trendy spots in which they'd wile the night away.

Cruz's words were the last spoken for some time as the populated areas of Port Charles gave way to another suburb in development. She thought her discomfort would decrease when they got away from the dark alleys and street corners of the club district but it ramped up several notches until she was once again thrumming with tension. She couldn't figure out what it was, but something felt off.

"That friend of yours who's supposed to be getting us the other car?"

He nodded, giving her his full attention.

"How sure are you of his integrity? Can he be bought?"

Cruz shook his head. "No. There's no love lost between him and Corinthos or him and Alcazar. If he can be bought, it can't be by them."

"What about Medici? He's new and so far all he's done is strike fear in every person who stands between him and all the territory in town."

She rubbed her arms, the nighttime chill in full swing on her body. She was always cold. Since completing her final round of chemotherapy, she'd struggled to restore herself to optimum health. A result of being as thin as she'd become was that she was never warm enough.

Moments stretched ahead without Cruz answering. She observed the tightening in his features and the same dread she'd felt on the deck of the lake house returned with a vengeance.

"Could Medici have bribed him? Is he loyal enough to risk his life by standing between his guns and us?" His knuckles were bone white on the steering wheel, the vein on his temple was pulsing. "Cruz."

"I don't know," he answered, finally. If his voice were any tighter she thought he might sprain his vocal chords.

"Do we have time to change the plans?" She reached for the glove compartment where the map and the passports were already stored. There was also a pen and notepad for any last minute notes they had to make. Trust Alexis to always expect complications.

He spun the steering wheel and they crossed to the other side of the deserted residential street. He took them into a quick right turn. "Do we have a choice?"

She knew he was pissed, because he should have known. It wasn't like him to not anticipate a turncoat. When things were headed south he could normally sense it in his gut. It had never led him wrong. Tonight, it seemed, was the first time.

He ground his teeth together audibly. She turned on the overhead light and began to look for another route out of Port Charles. Of course, they were supposed to be going to Niagara Falls, but it was a little late to be keeping up appearances. They were headed the long way south. Now, she would have to find another way to get there…somehow.


	4. I'll Be Watching You

"I have no idea how we're going to avoid Sonny or Vicente, or even Alcazar. We chose this route because it was a straight shot. I don't know the new layout of the criminal country well enough to chart a path that's free of hotspots." Ric hadn't exactly been forthcoming in the divorce proceedings with a map of Port Charles' Mob Land.

Cruz tapped his hands on the wheel. "That's fine. Totally fine. We're gonna have to do some extra ordinary driving not to be noticed and we need a different car, but it can be done. After all," he flashed a grin at her, "you always expect complications."

She smiled to herself. "Don't mock me."

"Never."

She followed the thick red line until it circled to her satisfaction towards the Gulf Coast. That wasn't their final destination, but it was the start. "Bingo. I think this can get us there, but we are going still going to have to switch vehicles or everyone will realize we're not going to Canada before we escape the city limits."

Cruz's tapping sped up until it started to distract her. She knew this was how he thought when he was worked up. He would tap some inane tune until his thoughts lined up straight. It was involuntary; sometimes she found it endearing, now it was unnerving. She pulled off her glasses, leaned over the armrest and stopped his hand with hers.

He looked down at her hand covering his on the steering wheel. He shifted his focus to her. He knew that look. She was hanging on by a thread tonight.

"I'll keep you and the girls safe. Don't worry."

"I'm not." She pulled away and sat back, turning again to the convoluted map. She wondered if some divine being had conjured it up just to drive her to madness.

"That'll be the day," he mumbled under his breath.

She kept her eyes down. "I'm blind, not deaf, Cruz."

"Then, you're the most stunning handi-capable woman I've ever met."

She lifted an eyebrow incredulously. She supposed she should've been used to it. If he was anything, he was a flirt. A respectful, respectable flirt. If only she'd met him sooner. She sighed. He would probably have still been in the academy then.

"Charmer."

"My mother used to call me that."

"Way to ruin the moment."

He laughed. "It's okay. You're nothing like my mother. She liked eighties power ballads."

"Again with the music. There is nothing wrong with the kind of music I listen to. And I'll have you know that I do like eighties music." She inclined her chin, satisfied that she'd made her case.

"Then, why do you roll your eyes whenever I turn one on?"

She shrugged, flushing, and looked towards their dimly lit surroundings. It was all beginning to look very familiar. "Where are we going?"

He followed the curve of the road into another right turn. "Don't change the subject. You're covering. What is it?"

She pursed her lips, staring nervously at the trees that began to close in on them. This city made her insane. There was no way so much concrete and wilderness should be squeezed into the same space. It was unnatural. "It makes me sing, okay? When a great eighties song comes on, I want to sing it at the top of my lungs, which is very embarrassing for me."

"Why? That's what power ballads are supposed to do. You can't be made fun of because you're doing what comes naturally."

"Says you."

"Says everyone," he returned plainly. "I sing at the top of my lungs regardless of who's around. It's made for a lot of jokes from my friends, but it's just a good time."

She crossed her legs and sat her hands still on them. "You and I clearly have different friends."

"Clearly," he intoned. "Mine are better."

"Don't test me on that." She scanned the trees and almost heard the sounds of jungle birds in the middle of New York. The hairs stood on her arms and she shivered, wishing she could hold Molly in her arms just now. "Where are we going?"

Finally at the end of his tour of mockery, Cruz wasn't smiling anymore. "I need you to trust me, Lexie." Her brow furrowed in consternation. He'd never called her that and while she wasn't exactly sold on her newest moniker, it wasn't what concerned her. She didn't like any of this anymore.

"You know I do, but _I _need to know where you're taking me and my daughters. This isn't on the route." She wasn't a fan of unexpected developments. This, this was why she was neurotic.

"Yes, it is." He pulled them slowly into a dense area of brush. The branches scratched at the windshield and leaves floated down over their heads. She twisted around to look out the back window and was amazed to find the branches and vines closing together as though they'd never pushed their way through. She righted herself and was instantly overcome by darkness. Her childhood fear of the dark began to sneak up her spine when there was a resounding click and then there was light. And Cruz.

"You all right?" He was holding her arm. Darkness was one of the fears he knew, one she'd confessed amid a moment of uncertainty. They couldn't stay, she'd said, otherwise they'd be consumed in the darkness. The possibility had, and still did, terrify her.

"I'm fine, but very confused. Where are we?"

He unfastened his seat belt. "We're at the big leap of faith." He reached down to his ankle and removed a small pistol. He laid it on his open palm and offered it to Alexis. "This is where Jameson agreed to meet me. Now, he may be a greedy son of a…" he directed the light towards where Krissy was slumped against Molly's seat. He frowned, but digressed. "He is many things criminal, but he is a man of his word. If he's turned on me, it doesn't matter where we go because we're screwed. Take this."

She didn't. He knew how she felt about deadly weapons. She was averse to them under the best of circumstances.

"Alexis, take this. It's the only chance you have if this goes south." He gently places the warm steel into her hands and held it between his own. "Don't shoot it if you don't have to, but if you do…think of Molly. Think of Kristina. They need a chance. You're it." She nodded, not wholly convinced but utterly determined. Her daughters were her life. "Our ride should be waiting just a few more yards in. If it looks legit, I'll flash the flashlight once. Be watching. If for any reason you need to hurry, I'll flash it twice. I won't do it if it's not important. If you see me do it twice in quick succession, take them and run to me. Leave everything. I promise it can be replaced. Do you understand?"

She nodded, unable to speak.

"Good. I'll see you in a few." He reached up and gently tucked her bangs away from her eyes. His eyes twinkled. "Godspeed."

"You, too."

He stepped out of the car, crouching low with his service weapon in hand. She held her pistol tight, pinning her eyes on him until he disappeared into the brush ahead. Her breathing was so loud it drowned out the low drone of some retro song playing softly on the radio.

Every move you make, every step you take

Ill be watching you


	5. Suicide Is Anything But Painless

She clutched the gun tighter, ever aware of the trigger. She didn't know how sensitive it was; she didn't care. She would exert all the force she had to, to kill the people after her girls. Her eyes flew across the foliage ahead. It was full-on dark out, now. The nocturnal animals had left their holes and hollows and were conversing over the events of their dreams. As much of an animal lover as she was, she wanted them to shut up. She was afraid that for all their chatter she wouldn't be able to hear the one shot that killed her.

Her eyes were peeled. They had begun to focus pass the point of seeing. She was imagining the worst case now. She was imagining this entire journey ending in blood. Her mind was circling the drain. This must've been what madness felt like: fixating so intently on one situation that you're too stupefied to escape it.

Her breath quickened. Panic, she thought, detachedly. She was panicking. Of all the bad days to become a hypochondriac, she would choose today. All of the sudden, her lungs froze. She'd seen it. She was sure. It had appeared as nothing more than a flicker at the edge of her vision. She knew. She _knew_. Didn't she?

Squinting at the area from which the imagined light had sprung, there was no doubt that the little flicker came again. Then, again. And once more. Bad. He hadn't told her what three flashes meant, however, she could take a guess.

Her body sprung into action before she did. She belatedly unfastened her seat belt and pushed her upper body into the crevice between the two front seats, the pistol secured in her waistband. She shook Kristina awake gently. "Sweetie, get up." The girl moaned and turned away. Alexis' skin danced with apprehension. "Kristina Davis-Corinthos, up!" she commanded in a voice that mirrored Helena's in too many ways.

With unbelievably steady hands, she unstrapped Molly from her seat and took her baby girl in an awkward hold. "Krissy, we're going to have to get out of here, okay? We're going to get out and we're going to run. It's going to be dark, so we won't be able to see each other. That means you have to hold onto my hand. Do not let go." Alexis stared into the seven year-old's eyes and hoped she forgot all of this someday.

"Okay, mommy."

The mother of three nodded and pushed her door open. As soon as the precious seal of the cabin was broken, the night's hard wind blew in, bringing with it leaves and the stench of death in wait. She stepped out and whipped around to yank the back door open. Kristina hopped out and grabbed her mother's hand.

Without a backwards look, Alexis picked their way toward where she knew safety was waiting. The leaves on the ground behind them rustled and the wind shifted. She quickened her gait. _Please, God, not like this. We're so close._

Just as she was sure a hand was about to reach out from the darkness to grab her, they broke through the wall of greenery and came face to face with Cruz aiming a gun. She stopped short, suppressing, but just barely, a gasp of terror. If the relief on her face was palpable it was only in answer to what she found on his.

"Thank God," he whispered, more to something greater than to her. He smiled, but didn't waste time on pleasantries. There was a high-end black sports-utility vehicle at his side. The back door was already open. "Get them in the car, now."

She crawled into the back, securing tranquil Molly in her seat, wide awake. When she met Alexis' eyes, she only gurgled. Kristina settled close to her--sisterly protectiveness was evidently hereditary.

"Can you get to the front?" Cruz asked, guarding their surroundings with only his lone gun and trained eye.

She nodded and slipped up there, pulling her gun metal gray weapon from her waist to sit it on the dashboard. "We can go."

He slammed the door shut and ran around to the driver's side. He got behind the wheel and turned over the engine he'd left idling a few minutes before. They roared from the woods onto the middle of an unsuspecting road. They'd made it.

Alexis sagged in her place. "This is too much, you know. I mean, I've been witness to many horrible things in my life, _lived_ through a whole lot of it, but I'm going insane in a car where I'm not being chased."

Cruz gave her that understanding smile again, but it passed away when he looked towards his rearview mirror. "I think you may have spoken too soon." He stuck his thumb towards the back windshield. "That car shouldn't be there."

The car in question was an innocuous red sports car, as flashy as anything the rich rode around in this town. Normally, it would be fine. Tonight, it wasn't fine, because the road they were on was closed for construction about three miles back. It was supposed to be them and the birds. Instead, the birds had taken to quiet solitude.

"Hello, problem number two," he muttered angrily. "Okay, plan whatever. Get in the back, put the girls on the floor."

She gaped at him as if he'd yanked off his face to reveal her brother Stavros. "What? No, not if they're going to chase us. What good would it do?"

"It would save the three of you from being hit by flying bullets when they shoot at us! Okay? Is that enough good for you?"

Alexis pursed her lips, narrowing her gypsy eyes. She didn't speak as she slunk between the padded chairs and kneeled in front of the second row of seats.

Kristina was holding Molly's hand. She peered at her mother with ill begotten fear on her cheeks. All the strength she'd inherited was no match for the fear of a child about to lose her mother and sister.

Alexis stroked her face with the soft backside of her hand. "Don't be afraid. I will _never_ let them hurt us. Do you understand me?"

Kristina pouted, but conceded with her eyes.

Alexis grinned, though it wasn't with happiness. "Good." She patted her hands comfortingly and unsnapped the safety belts from across her daughter's chest. "Now, get down on the floor as low as you can. Molly and me are going to get down with you."

Molly came out easily and fit herself into the curves and grooves of Alexis' embrace.

Cruz kept an eye out for the car that was quickly gaining through small incremental increases in speed. At this rate, they would be side by side soon. He wasn't overreacting; his gut told him this wasn't right. His gut told him that Jameson had come as close to betrayal as he could, and yet given Cruz enough rope to save his charges from the wolves.

He pushed steadily on the accelerator, ever aware of the streaking of the landscape in his window. He hoped Alexis wasn't looking.

She wasn't. She was smiling down at her girls who were looking trustingly up at her. They were laid side by side on the tan carpet, seemingly unaware of the speed with which they were fleeing their known world. Alexis was very aware, however, and sent a sharp glance to the only part of Cruz she could see: his hands.

There was a resounding _bang!. _The car swerved and she belted full force into the door across from her.

"Damn it!" She clutched her head, crouching even lower over her daughters as bullets truly began to fly. Glass blew out of the back window and the cabin whistled with the cutting draft through the holes in the doors. They swerved again, but Alexis managed not to collide with anything this time. Molly began to cry, afraid, finally afraid. Kristina squeezed her eyes shut until her lids turned white and her face red. She held on desperately to Molly with one arm and Alexis's sleeve wrinkled fiercely in her opposite hand.

"Cruz, please get us out of here."

She heard his growl of frustration and several choice oaths to make this guy in particular pay.

"No one shoots at my girls," he muttered angrily.

She ducked her head, uncharacteristically elated to belong to someone. 

He couldn't shoot and drive at the same time, so his only option was defensive driving tactics. It was days like these that he was grateful his father had lived for as long as he had. His mother would never have taught him how to drive this way.

"I am literally out of ideas here." They passed a sign for an upcoming Interstate highway. Alexis caught the streak of green out of the corner of her eye and the idea struck quickly.

"We'll get on the Interstate. We can lose them up there. Besides, if they can't get us alone, they're not going to try anything in the middle of Friday night traffic."

"Medici's pretty bold. You sure about that?"

"I'm not sure about anything," she admitted.

Cruz pushed the bound of sane driving to move into the entering lane. "It's something." The compact suburban waded into the sluggish traffic and their chase came instantaneously to a stop. He spied their pursuer a few cars back, attempting to round several other motorists to get closer. It wasn't happening. They were hardly moving, and that guy wasn't moving at all.

"He's not getting us now."

Alexis lifted herself up from the floor. "How sure are you?"

"As sure as this traffic would be the death of us if he was any closer."

"Have I told you how comforting you are today?" She lifted her girls up from the floorboard and gave them each a tight hug. Kristina clung and Molly settled.

"I do recall you saying something of a sort." He winked at her in the rearview mirror. "I know you have a thing about honesty, so I'll accept that compliment in the intended good faith."

She rolled her eyes. _Wiseass._

"Now, get back up here before we get stopped."

"Not inconspicuous enough?" Bullet holes notwithstanding

"In a word, no."

She buckled the girls in for what she hoped was the last time and shimmied back to her seat. It might've been fatigue talking but she could've sworn she felt his hand on her…No, she must've imagined it. She tried to relax. With a gracious laugh, she hit the radio dial. He whooped in triumph when Pat Benatar's sensual rebellion rang out in _Love Is A Battlefield_.

She ducked in the passenger seat, peeking embarrassedly out the window to see other female motorists looking on in pity. What he lost to their confinement in sound he made up for in motion. This was not the cool, regulated Cruz Rodriguez she thought she'd known. In the rear-view mirror, she noticed Kristina starting to pick up the beat of the eighties' hit. She rocked Abigail along with her head. She didn't know a single word, but she was loving this.

Alexis closed her eyes. If she'd know that all Kristina needed was a little rock & roll to ease her mind, she'd have dusted off her old music collection months ago. She still might. Maybe her girls would favor Joan Jett or Annie Lennox, maybe Lisa Lisa or Paula Abdul; knowing them they'd love everything their mother claimed to hate, but secretly adored. That was the Cassadine way--even their sister's way--unspoken adulation. She hoped they'd break free of it someday.

_We are strong, no one can tell us we're wrong  
Searchin' our hearts for so long, both of us knowing  
Love Is A Battlefield_

She hummed along with the bridge. Tucked away in a protective case at the back of her closet was the Best of Pat Benatar. Oh, she hadn't listened to that in so long.

"Just sing," he whispered, allowing his eyes away from the windshield only long enough to look at her meaningfully. They were fleeing for their lives and they might not succeed. If there was ever a better time to cut loose, this was it.

So, she sang, and Cruz did laugh, but he also sang along with her.

When it was over, she sat back and sighed in contentment. If she died in five minutes, her only regret would be not knowing if this moment could last forever. She wished it could.

"I don't think there'll ever be a better day than this," Cruz declared as they switched into the fast lane.

"You read my mind," she agreed and let her mind wander.

She was being chased by the most dangerous criminal element in Port Charles. She and her daughters were running for their lives with only a good friend's skill and devotion between them and death. She was all out of options if something else went wrong. She was so terrified she couldn't look at a mirror sideways for fear of having a panic attack. But, she knew Cruz was right; she'd never know a day better spent than this one.

God, she loved him so much.

And that was where she stopped…and took three large mental steps back.

She'd done this a few times already, fallen too easily for men with a quick wit and a smile to die for. They'd all been charmers, most unfortunately of the psychotic variety. She'd come to believe that anybody she looked at sideways had insurmountable skeletons in the closet. It was a safer way of thinking than she'd had before.

That didn't mean she wasn't grateful. She could stack every word she knew in every language she spoke end to end and never reach the height of her gratitude. Cruz was good; he was good to her, he was good to her girls. She loved him for that and the rest of her affection was for another time, maybe another life.

Saviors became adversaries so easily once she'd given them her heart. He already had the greatest parts of it, nestled in the backseat of this dying vehicle. Giving him more would be suicide.

Unsurprisingly, she didn't want to die today.


End file.
